“I just checked our committee calendar and the NDAA resolution has been scheduled for a second hearing this coming Wednesday…We’re virtually assured passage out of committee to the house floor and then passage on the house floor.”

“With this second hearing- on it’s own course right now. I don’t expect much debate at all- there will be limited commentary but I don’t see much opposition. Typically, a bill doesn’t get through to the house floor without the consent of the Speaker of the House. If a bill has no chance, it will not normally get a second hearing.” said Gordon in a follow up call Monday.

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Years ago I made my first speech with the Tenth Amendment Center in a location far East of Los Angeles, where the urban sprawl ends and the desert begins. The evening started off with much enthusiasm as a leading member of the group announced that she would be running for Congress. Later, I heard one of the best compliments of my life- that I had caused a Federal candidate to re-consider her decision.

“After listening to you, I feel like I would make a bigger difference here in CA…” she said, with a solemn tone.

I agreed.

How many more times do we need to see good people battered on the rocks of Mount DC before We the People change course?

Recently, the founders of the Patrick Henry Caucus all ran for Federal offices. How many of them even GOT a chance to be a lone difference maker in a sea of disgusting greed and self-interest? One. Four out of the five lost their bids, aced out by candidates and a political establishment that knows how to steal your message like a Mockingbird.

I found it ironic that the founders of a caucus to break down the power in DC would be so eager to campaign for Federal office in the first place, but if one assumes the purity of their intent…then four candidates who represent the antithesis of centralized power couldn’t even get in the door.

“Just 10 days ago, I wrote about SJR 45, a Tea Party-infused measure (part interposition, part nullification, part secessionism) that would purport to give Missouri the power to disregard federal law — and federal-court rulings interpreting and enforcing that law. SJR 45 evidently hasn’t yet made it out of the state senate yet, and the entire legislature would have to approve the proposed constitutional amendment before Missourians could vote on it. But even if all of that were to happen the law would have zero chance — none — of passing constitutional muster upon judicial review. Like people, states don’t get to pick and choose which federal laws they want to obey.”

I was really hoping that at this point in the article, this leading analyst would offer an explanation of why the only ‘constitutional’ behavior a state can assume is to cower in fear under the spectre of an out-of-control Federal government. He did not.

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As Matthew Silber previously reported, there is mounting resistance to the National Defense Authorization Act in Missouri. Show-Me-State Sen. Brian Nieves (R) tells the Tenth Amendment Center that SB819, The Missouri Liberty Preservation Act, is awaiting a full debate on the Senate floor.

Your Help is needed RIGHT NOW to get this bill passed. See ACTION ITEMS below.

The bill requires state non-compliance with the federal government:

“The state of Missouri shall not provide material support or participate in any way with the implementation of Sections 1021 and 1022 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012”

“The Missouri Liberty Preservation Act has cleared committee and now it’s just a matter of waiting for it to be scheduled on the debate calendar. The issue of the NDAA is likely to be debated openly, here in the senate,” reported the State Senator.

Nieves, who said he has not gained majority support in the Senate for his anti-NDAA bill, expressed optimism due to the unlikely relationships beginning to form over the civil liberties implications of sections 1021 and 1022 of the NDAA.

“One of the Democrats known for filibustering in the Missouri Senate has indicated that they would not move to impede SB 819,” Nieves said, adding he feels that an alliance with some portion of the Democrat Senators is still a very real possibility.

Just across the Capital grounds, another bill is under consideration to reject the notion that the Federal government has the power to kidnap. On Wednesday, State Representative Paul Curtman (R) introduced his version of the Missouri Liberty Preservation Act in the Missouri House.

“My fellow veterans in particular are very aware of the dangers posed by the NDAA, but this issue is obviously crossing boundaries. Every one of the dozen or so Democrats I’ve showed this to say they’ll vote for it. That is a huge change from what I’m used to,” Curtman said.

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The push to resist Federal Drug policy is advancing once again this legislative session with a number of bills and a number of different approaches being taken at the state level. There are currently 17 states with cannabis legislation this session, despite a new Federal crackdown on cannabis operations in California that were within State and local law.

Pennsylvania lawmakers are now considering a new attempt to address the issue of marijuana, knowing full well that their Governor is not likely to sign anything along those lines. As Governor Corbett has stated before, he believes that the Supreme Court is the ultimate authority of law and that states cannot freely exercise their power under the constitution until the SCOTUS gives them permission. he’s joined in that view by state Rep. John Lawrence, R-13th of Franklin who said, “I’m not a supporter of the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. This is an issue that should be dealt with at the federal level.”

In Massachusetts, a group of lawmakers led by Representative Ellen Story of Amherst are seeking to establish state level cannabis laws. The driving force behind “The Cannabis Regulation and Taxation Act” was a Public Policy Question in the 2010 elections, which clearly instructed Story and others to take this issue on. This bill will go before the Judiciary Committee March 6th at 1:00, in a Legalization hearing at the statehouse, room A-2. Anyone is free to attend and address the committee- a prime chance for even those who don’t support marijuana use to explain why in order to be in line with the constitution, cannabis must be addressed at the state rather than Federal level.

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“WHEREAS, The General Assembly enacts this Act in accordance with its police power to enact legislation for the protection of the health of its citizens, as reserved to the State in the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution; now, therefore,”

…And then the bill goes on, letting the world know what will be permitted under Maryland law…in accordance with the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution. Powerful little amendment, I’d say.

It has also been a popular approach to the problem that every American currently faces, that being their central government’s insistence that DC is the ONLY place to approach and solve We the People’s problems.

Maryland House Delegate Cheryl Glenn (D-Baltimore) had found herself fed up with the bureaucratic process she was seeing- a process that had begun in the previous legislative session. ‘Workgroups’ were assigned to study the problem of medical cannabis 12 months ago and then deliver a proposal to the state house. Both had flaws that Glenn was not prepared to tolerate. It’s understandable really, if you consider the number of complaints about drug policy she must hear as a representative of the people of Baltimore.

“As a legislator dedicated to addressing the needs of medical marijuana patients in Maryland, I am very disappointed in both legislative proposals being offered by the commissioned workgroup,” said Del. Glenn. “I am offering a different bill — what I believe is a common-sense approach to this issue, taking into account not only the needs of medical marijuana patients, but also the needs of the larger communities in which they live.”

The radical legislation that this maverick legislator is pushing? In the big picture it is only a step in the process of addressing cannabis, with the establishment of lawful recognized medical applications. Compassionate distribution systems are also created in this bill.

Readers of HB 15, the Maryland Medical Marijuana Act, will find a marked similarity in language and concept to a bill recently introduced in Idaho by conservative Republican Tom Trail.

Some people argue that principles of state sovereignty would be a pointless strategy in their state. They argue that their statehouse is even more corrupt than the Feds and in some cases, they may have a point.

Fortunately there is much that can be done at the county level. Sources are telling Tenth Amendment Center that there are a high number of counties in Colorado alone that are ready to turn back the NDAA.

What do you do when the Feds decide that they’re allowed to kidnap people? Do you wait until you’ve made the ‘correct’ voting choices or do you do what Jefferson would have high-fived you for and tell the DC bureaucrats who seek to dominate we, the people, “NO!”. “No, you may not enter this county and kidnap citizens of this county.”

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On Jan. 17, Republican Tom Trail introduced HB 370 in the Idaho House of Representatives. This marks Trail’s second attempt to address the needs of medical marijuana patients in as many years.

“Representative Trail is a conservative who gets it. He sees that it’s all about compassion. In essence the heart of this bill is true conservatism.” Robert Capecchi of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington D.C. said.

HB370 would provide for alternative treatment centers where very ill patients could obtain cannabis medication to ease their suffering. It is not a legalization bill, but it does contain some interesting statements regarding the relationship between the States and their central government:

“According to the U.S. sentencing commission and the federal bureau of investigation, 99 out of every 100 marijuana arrests in the country are made under state law, rather than under federal law. Consequently, changing state law will have the practical effect of protecting from arrest the vast majority of seriously ill people who have a medical need to use marijuana.”

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In late March, the Supreme Court will hear the Obamacare case. But are the courts our ONLY hope to stop this unconstitutional “law”? NO! – that’s what Thomas Jefferson and James Madison taught us. And on March 31st, just days after the hearings, we’ll be holding a special event in Philadelphia to highlight the fact that the states CAN and MUST stop DC! You’ll be educated and activated on how you can follow the founders’ advice to stop Obamacare – and every other unconstitutional act.

It’s time to celebrate our founding heritage in the place where the constitution was born!

Did you know that when the Feds pass unconstitutional “laws” like Obamacare, we don’t have to wait for new elections, or even the supreme court to stop it? There is another option…that we really can tell the Federal government “NO!” – the key is the 10th Amendment…